Phoenix Mosque Sees Anti-Islam Protesters Parading 'Muhammad Cartoon Contest'

[homersapien 11,337]

Yearning for an opportunity to don your gear and display your assault rifle?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/29/phoenix-mosque-islam_n_7473592.html

....PHOENIX, May 29 (Reuters) - More than 200 protesters, some armed, berated Islam and its Prophet Mohammed outside an Arizona mosque on Friday in a provocative protest that was denounced by counterprotesters shouting "Go home, Nazis," weeks after an anti-Muslim event in Texas came under attack by two gunmen.....

.....Among the anti-Islam protesters, some of whom called Islam a "religion of murderers," more than a dozen men in military clothing carried semi-automatic weapons. Others waved copies of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad drawn at the Texas event.....

......The Phoenix mosque targeted on Friday has condemned such violence and held a series of sermons at Friday prayers last year by an imam who criticized militant Islamist groups such as Islamic State, al Qaeda and Nigeria's Boko Haram.

The president of the center had urged worshippers not to engage with the demonstrators.

"We should remind ourselves that we do not match wrongness with wrongness, but with grace and mercy and goodness," Usama Shami told worshippers during Friday prayers........

[AURaptor 1,121]

"We should remind ourselves that we do not match wrongness with wrongness, but with grace and mercy and goodness," Usama Shami told worshippers during Friday prayers........

If only all of Islam thought and acted that way.

[quietfan 233]

"We should remind ourselves that we do not match wrongness with wrongness, but with grace and mercy and goodness," Usama Shami told worshippers during Friday prayers........

If only all of Islam thought and acted that way.

And all of Christianity...

[AUUSN 823]

some of whom called Islam a "religion of murderers,"

I didnt know War Tim, Proud Tiger and cooltigger were there...

[quietfan 233]

From the opening link:

Ritzheimer, the main organizer of the demonstration, said the point was "to expose the true colors of Islam."

"True Islam is terrorism. Yes, the ones that are out committing these atrocities and stuff, they are following the book as it's written," Ritzheimer told CNN.

Well, at least I give him credit for being honest about his true motives instead of cloaking them under the subterfuge of "merely defending free speech" as at the last Draw Mohammed rally. Although I wonder if those "defenders of free speech" would be equally vocal in defense of burning Bibles, crosses, or the U.S. flag as expressions of free speech.

However, as of the most recent news report I saw, things remain peaceful & non-violent in Phoenix. I want to congratulate all protesters on both sides as well as the local community and the members of the mosque on that, and hope it remains non-violent.

[AURaptor 1,121]

"We should remind ourselves that we do not match wrongness with wrongness, but with grace and mercy and goodness," Usama Shami told worshippers during Friday prayers........

If only all of Islam thought and acted that way.

And all of Christianity...

Yes, if you want to compare mountains to mole hills, by all means...

:-\

[homersapien 11,337]

"We should remind ourselves that we do not match wrongness with wrongness, but with grace and mercy and goodness," Usama Shami told worshippers during Friday prayers........

If only all of Islam thought and acted that way.

And all of Christianity...

Yes, if you want to compare mountains to mole hills, by all means...

:-\

I don't think he was making a comparison

[AURaptor 1,121]

Well, I mentioned ALL of Islam, which today is by far the most violent of all the major religions, and his reply was ALL of Christianity. Not all of Judaism, or all of Hinduism, but JUST Christianity.

In my book, that's a comparison, specifically and exclusively with Christianity.

[homersapien 11,337]

Well, I mentioned ALL of Islam, which today is by far the most violent of all the major religions, and his reply was ALL of Christianity. Not all of Judaism, or all of Hinduism, but JUST Christianity.

In my book, that's a comparison, specifically and exclusively with Christianity.

"Your book" is notoriously subjective which means it is also distorted.

[autigeremt 6,560]

The wheels on the bus go round and round.

[AURaptor 1,121]

"Your book" is notoriously subjective which means it is also distorted.

How so ?

And why not address the issue at hand?

[TitanTiger 20,460]

I don't really get purposely seeking out opportunities to tweak/take shots at other people. It's one thing if in the course of doing your regular stuff you happen to do something perfectly reasonable within free speech that happens to offend some oversensitive person or group. It's an entirely other thing to practically get up in their face to do it for the primary purpose of provoking and pissing people off. It's like saying "War Eagle" after a big win over Alabama. It's one thing to scream it with your buddies and celebrate. It's another to say it loudly regardless of whether some bammers are nearby. But it's an entirely different matter to go to Tuscaloosa, set up shop on the sidewalk outside their biggest frat house and start yelling "Around the bowl and down the hole roll tide roll" and making dead bear jokes. If they can't handle the celebrating after the Iron Bowl in their vicinity, that's their problem. But if you go looking for trouble doing the latter, you sort of deserve to get punched in the face.

[AURaptor 1,121]

Titan - would putting a Mosque at the site of the WTC ( or right across the street ) , where there wasn't one before, be seen as unnecessary tweaking or taking shots ?

[AUDub 11,117]

Titan - would putting a Mosque at the site of the WTC ( or right across the street ) , where there wasn't one before, be seen as unnecessary tweaking or taking shots ?

A. Wasn't a mosque.

B. Was a good few minutes walk away and completely out of sight of Ground Zero.

[cooltigger21 0]

It's not an official mosque but it serves the same purpose. We have to understand these people and go out of our way to appease them and not be mean to them and allow them to bring their sharia law with them. They were going to actually build one and were it not for the survivors of 9/11 and some others speaking out against it, they would have built a full fledged one.

[AUDub 11,117]

It's not an official mosque but it serves the same purpose. We have to understand these people and go out of our way to appease them and not be mean to them and allow them to bring their sharia law with them.

No it doesn't.

They were going to actually build one and were it not for the survivors of 9/11 and some others speaking out against it, they would have built a full fledged one.

You pulled this directly out of your ass.

[homersapien 11,337]

"Your book" is notoriously subjective which means it is also distorted.

How so ?

And why not address the issue at hand?

Well, apologies to Quietfan, but perhaps he said Christianity simply because he is Christian and therefore personally related to the fact that not all Christians are perfect.

The idea that he didn't include all of the other major religions - none of which have perfect adherents - necessarily means he was making a direct comparison is a contrived, if not specious argument.

You are just more interested in making a "yeah but Muslims are far worse" argument and missing the greater point.

[homersapien 11,337]

Titan - would putting a Mosque at the site of the WTC ( or right across the street ) , where there wasn't one before, be seen as unnecessary tweaking or taking shots ?

A. Wasn't a mosque.

B. Was a good few minutes walk away and completely out of sight of Ground Zero.

And, "C", it's not "tweaking or taking shots" regardless.

[autigeremt 6,560]

Until proven otherwise American citizens deserve equal protections under the law. Abrasive or not..

[AUDub 11,117]

Until proven otherwise American citizens deserve equal protections under the law. Abrasive or not..

No one disputes that.

[homersapien 11,337]

It's not an official mosque but it serves the same purpose. We have to understand these people and go out of our way to appease them and not be mean to them and allow them to bring their sharia law with them.

No it doesn't.

They were going to actually build one and were it not for the survivors of 9/11 and some others speaking out against it, they would have built a full fledged one.

You pulled this directly out of your ass.

But that's simply a natural result of having your head stuck up there.

[AURaptor 1,121]

You are just more interested in making a "yeah but Muslims are far worse" argument and missing the greater point.

Actually, Muslims ARE far worse, and that IS the greater point.

[AURaptor 1,121]

Nice cultural activity they're engaged in, huh ?

Park 51 is a couple blocks up from the WTC site and wasn't there before the attack.

[quietfan 233]

In the U.S. and most Western countries, Muslims have the same right to build houses of worship and/or cultural centers in any location that Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, atheists, etc. have a right to build. Ideally all religious groups would have the same rights throughout our world and species. Muslims should have the right to build within 2 blocks of the One World Trade Center and Christians, Jews, Buddhists, etc. should have the right to build within 2 blocks of the Grand Mosque in Mecca.

There is absolutely a right to hold "Draw Mohammed" rallies: http://law2.umkc.edu...invsmith.html However, just as at Skokie, I do think such rallies are more about hatred (of Islam in Phoenix, of Jews in Skokie) than "defending free speech", as event organizer Jon Ritzheimer essentially admitted in the quote I posted in post #5.

Again, I am happy that yesterday's event was characterized by non-violence on all sides, even though apparently some ugly words were exchanged between the two sets of protesters.

In response to concerns about my mentioning only Christianity in post #3, I happily revise my statement to:

"All religions, indeed all human beings, 'should remind ourselves that we do not match wrongness with wrongness, but with grace and mercy and goodness'."

[TitanTiger 20,460]

Titan - would putting a Mosque at the site of the WTC ( or right across the street ) , where there wasn't one before, be seen as unnecessary tweaking or taking shots ?

Given that it was neither 1) a mosque, 2) at the site of the WTC, nor 3) right across the street bur rather a few minutes away from the site, I'd say this question is irrelevant.

And even if it was, it doesn't really get to my point about what the people referenced in the original post did. "They did it too!" isn't a defense.